Been to Koh Tao, should I go to PERHENTIANS?

Hi,

Last year I spend a few weeks in Koh Tao (Thailand) diving. Loved
every minute of it. Beautiful environment and very cheap. Good food
and massages too. Also a great place if travelling solo as there were
lots of other single travellers/backpackers. But now I'm looking for
this years diving destination.

Has anyone been to the Perhentian Islands in Malaysia recently? If so
where did you stay and what dive company did you use, and how did you
find it? I'll be travelling alone so would prefer to avoid the
couple/family type resorts.

Are the Perhentians likely to be the right pick for a sequel to Koh
Tao, that is a cheap, backpacker-ish dive-centric holiday in SE Asia?

Stewart

In article <1121658192.572613.94150@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups. com>,
windsurfing_stew@yahoo.com.au (windsurfing_stew) wrote:

> Has anyone been to the Perhentian Islands in Malaysia recently?

Lots of people i guess !!!!!!!!!!

Sorry about that, i was (last week) recently in Sabah, and there were a
couple of backpackers staying with us who had come from the Perhentians,
they were saying how good it was.


Dave Morgan @ Work in the UK

<morgand@cix.compulink.co.uk> wrote in message
news:wvKdnY2c1uWl0kLfRVnyuQ@pipex.net...
> In article <1121658192.572613.94150@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups. com>,
> windsurfing_stew@yahoo.com.au (windsurfing_stew) wrote:
>
> > Has anyone been to the Perhentian Islands in Malaysia recently?
>
> Lots of people i guess !!!!!!!!!!
>
> Sorry about that, i was (last week) recently in Sabah, and there were a
> couple of backpackers staying with us who had come from the Perhentians,
> they were saying how good it was.

Compared to Sipadan/Mabul? Or compared to Koh Tao?

In article <ZcQDe.7962$s54.2361@pd7tw2no>, slarson@shaw.canada (chilly)
wrote:

> *From:* "chilly" <slarson@shaw.canada>
> *Date:* Thu, 21 Jul 2005 16:39:21 GMT

> Compared to Sipadan/Mabul? Or compared to Koh Tao?

I dont think they were comparing at all, they were merely saying that they
had a really good time there and they enjoyed their dives.

How can anywhere compare to Sipadan/Mabul and be better ? ;^)
Thinking about it........i guess Chuuk or Bikini is better for Wrecks..

Dave Morgan @ Work in the UK
Take out the "goes diving" bit....
Trip photos on line at www.morg.co.uk

morgand@cix.compulink.co.uk wrote:
>
> In article <ZcQDe.7962$s54.2361@pd7tw2no>, slarson@shaw.canada (chilly)
> wrote:
>
> > *From:* "chilly" <slarson@shaw.canada>
> > *Date:* Thu, 21 Jul 2005 16:39:21 GMT
>
> > Compared to Sipadan/Mabul? Or compared to Koh Tao?
>
> I dont think they were comparing at all, they were merely saying that they
> had a really good time there and they enjoyed their dives.

I don't think that's quite what chilly meant.....

> How can anywhere compare to Sipadan/Mabul and be better ? ;^)

Easily. Try diving Palau!
After Palau, Sipadan and Mabul are almost boring... almost. :o)
Actually, all three offer different types of dives, so there really
isn't valid grounds for a generalization, but there is no doubt that
diving the Perhentians is more interesting than diving Koh Tao. And
personally, I love diving Koh Tao.

The Perhentians provide more varied marine life, more live coral, and
generally better viz than Koh Tao more often. If those three are
important to your dive then the Perhentians are better.

> Thinking about it........i guess Chuuk or Bikini is better for Wrecks..

Or Coron Bay in Palawan Province in the Philippines. Six WW II wrecks
all divable with nitrox, and no need for the expense of a live-aboard.
$26 a day for an air-con double with ensuite in Coron Town, and a short
boat ride out to the wrecks.


Steve Kramer
"PhotoEnvisions" Freelance Photography
Chiang Mai, Thailand
http://www.photoenvisions.com
--
"The voyage of discovery lies not in seeking new horizons, but in seeing
with new eyes." - Marcel Proust

In article <42E0E957.87B94E19@seatraveler.com>, steve@seatraveler.com
(Steve Kramer) wrote:

> *From:* Steve Kramer <steve@seatraveler.com>
> *Date:* Fri, 22 Jul 2005 19:40:55 +0700

> > How can anywhere compare to Sipadan/Mabul and be better ? ;^)
>
> Easily. Try diving Palau!
> After Palau, Sipadan and Mabul are almost boring... almost. :o)

I was looking for a response, my wife is wanting something different after
5 trips to Mabul/Sipadan in the last 2 years.
You kindly provided a link to your Sangalaki report a short while ago
which i duly booked and was looking forward to........sadly the trip
did'nt come off, we got as far as Tarakan in Kalimantan when the
Indonesian immigration stepped in............
We had done 11 nights on the old "Rig" (Seaventures resort is an oil
platform used as a diving resort) situated just off Mabul and then were
supposed to do Sangalaki.
Off all the places we have dived, a few now i guess, underneath that "old
Rig" is by far the best, for us anyway, while there we dived Kapalai and
Mabul just once and never even went to Sipadan which is only 15 min's by
boat. Every dive under the Rig is a different dive with different
creatures to see, the Macro oportunities are endless, we just love it.
Having said that, and as i say above, somewhere new is what we are looking
for.

> Actually, all three offer different types of dives, so there really
> isn't valid grounds for a generalization,

Agreed, diving is a personal thing, what suits one does not suit another,
luckily my wife dives and we are buddies and we get turned on by the same
things (comments not required).

> > Thinking about it........i guess Chuuk or Bikini is better for
> > Wrecks..
>
> Or Coron Bay in Palawan Province in the Philippines. Six WW II wrecks
> all divable with nitrox, and no need for the expense of a live-aboard.
> $26 a day for an air-con double with ensuite in Coron Town, and a short
> boat ride out to the wrecks.

Sounds good allthough we dont do nitrox........we did'nt use or need it in
Chuuk, allthough we did do three stops on the way back up, do you have to
use it in Coron Bay ?



Dave Morgan @ Work in the UK
Take out the "goes diving" bit....
Trip photos on line at www.morg.co.uk

<morgand@cix.compulink.co.uk> wrote in message
news:Ho2dnWVItckgbH3fRVnyhQ@pipex.net...

>> Or Coron Bay in Palawan Province in the Philippines. Six WW II wrecks
>> all divable with nitrox, and no need for the expense of a live-aboard.
>> $26 a day for an air-con double with ensuite in Coron Town, and a short
>> boat ride out to the wrecks.
>
> Sounds good allthough we dont do nitrox........we did'nt use or need it in
> Chuuk, allthough we did do three stops on the way back up, do you have to
> use it in Coron Bay ?

Just out of curiosity, why don't you "do" nitrox?

In Chuuk, nitrox came in very handy to extend my bottom times, giving me a
total of at least 5 additional hours underwater during my week there. Five
hours for the $100 or so most boats charge for unlimited fills is a good
deal anywhere. Having traveled all the way to Chuuk to dive, it's almost
priceless.

<morgand@cix.compulink.co.uk> wrote in message
news:Ho2dnWVItckgbH3fRVnyhQ@pipex.net...
> In article <42E0E957.87B94E19@seatraveler.com>, steve@seatraveler.com
> (Steve Kramer) wrote:
>
> > *From:* Steve Kramer <steve@seatraveler.com>
> > *Date:* Fri, 22 Jul 2005 19:40:55 +0700
>
> > > How can anywhere compare to Sipadan/Mabul and be better ? ;^)
> >
> > Easily. Try diving Palau!
> > After Palau, Sipadan and Mabul are almost boring... almost. :o)
>
> I was looking for a response, my wife is wanting something different after
> 5 trips to Mabul/Sipadan in the last 2 years.
> You kindly provided a link to your Sangalaki report a short while ago
> which i duly booked and was looking forward to........sadly the trip
> did'nt come off, we got as far as Tarakan in Kalimantan when the
> Indonesian immigration stepped in............

What do you mean? What happened?

(snip)

morgand@cix.compulink.co.uk wrote:

> Off all the places we have dived, a few now i guess, underneath that "old
> Rig" is by far the best, for us anyway,

We found new species (for us, anyway) of nudibranchs on EVERY dive under
the rig!

> > Or Coron Bay in Palawan Province in the Philippines. Six WW II wrecks
> > all divable with nitrox, and no need for the expense of a live-aboard.
> > $26 a day for an air-con double with ensuite in Coron Town, and a short
> > boat ride out to the wrecks.
>
> Sounds good allthough we dont do nitrox........we did'nt use or need it in
> Chuuk, allthough we did do three stops on the way back up, do you have to
> use it in Coron Bay ?

You never 'need' to use nitrox. It's a bonus for your dives in terms of
bottom time.
There are several reasons why you should have nitrox certification. (And
the course is little more than learning the math and safety factors
involved, not new diving skills.)
Primarily, it gives you a MUCH longer bottom time at certain depths.
Secondly, it reduces the surface interval required between dives as
there is less nitrogen entering your body during the dive. And third, as
a result of the shorter surface interval need to off-gas (less nitrogen
in the body to begin with,) you can make more dives safely in one day.
The main drawback is a limited usable depth, however in Coron Bay, as
every wreck sits on a 100 foot (aprox) bottom, you can really extend
bottom times.

Here are some old photos shot in Coron http://seatraveler.com/coron.htm
The viz was pretty bad that week.

Anecdotally, many people state that they are much less tired after a day
of nitrox diving, but there is no scientific proof of this. You can do
the nitrox course while doing your regular dives as it only involves
some book work to learn the proper increased percentages of O2 in your
gas and the bottom times for each different mix, how to analyze the
final mix, and how to compute the depths and times. Then, of course, you
can buy a nitrox computer and let it do most of the grunt work. Instead
of diving 'air' at 21%, you have the choice of increasing the O2,
generally not more than 36% (although you can go higher) and because
there is more O2 there will be less nitrogen. Less nitrogen loading
leads to longer bottom times. Longer bottom times lead to big smiles on
great dives! You can do the course in two days, and dive nitrox while
doing the course. Nothing lost from your vacation time except a few
hours in the evenings, and gaining bottom time for all your dives.

Steve Kramer
"PhotoEnvisions" Freelance Photography
Chiang Mai, Thailand
http://www.photoenvisions.com



--
"The voyage of discovery lies not in seeking new horizons, but in seeing
with new eyes." - Marcel Proust

In article <11e2a08csk1ca42@corp.supernews.com>, mossman@qnet.com (Greg
Mossman) wrote:

>
> Just out of curiosity, why don't you "do" nitrox?

I guess its a long story, probably one of ignorance, but when we got our
Padi cards in 98 we just went off on our own diving the UK, we were not
part of a club or group so the natural progression thing never came up, we
saw so many people or talked to them where they would say they just
qualified and were now going to do divemaster or instructor course, we
just wanted to dive and never saw the need to brag about how qualified we
were, and it was the same with Nitrox.....lots of divers we see wont get
in the water without their "fill"....."i must have nitrox" they
say.....christ were in a group doing the same dive, 20 metres at most, get
a life........i understand the saturation issues, bottom time, tiredness
but it has never stopped us doing the dives we want, i also think that it
can be very restrictive.........but not having used it i cant really
comment too much. Thats why we have never bothered with it.....

> In Chuuk, nitrox came in very handy Having traveled all the way to Chuuk
to
> dive, it's almost priceless.

We were on Thorfinn and if i remember, it was quite expensive........there
was one other couple on board with us, from the UK and they were not Padi,
they were certified by that far far better organisation........they must
have been better divers than us because they had every conceavable dive
aid i have seen, i thought they were going mountaineering because they had
ropes, metal thingy's for climbing rope, hang tanks, whistle's, bell's and
anything else you could hang off a d ring......i never saw them penetrate
any of the wrecks though ????, so for me, fancy titles and qualifications
mean very little........and when i get asked "what qualification are you"
it makes me chuckle.....

Dave Morgan @ Work in the UK
Take out the "goes diving" bit....
Trip photos on line at www.morg.co.uk